It was a relegation battle at Monk Oval when Maribyrnong Park hosted Avondale Heights, with a seven-goal-to-one final quarter earning the Heights the important victory.
Jackson Robb and Matthew Darby each kicked three goals for the Heights who boasted a further eight individual goal scorers.
Tom Russell and Silver Yousif were named their best, as they now go one win ahead of Marby and off the bottom of the ladder, although they are still down on percentage.
With almost all sides left for the two to come up against in the back end of the season, this battle’s far from over.
East Keilor and Greenvale were shaping the finals landscape over at Section Road with the Cougars coming away with a 10-point win.
The loss puts Greenvale back to a game out of the top four behind Strathmore with the Cougars another one game ahead, a vital early win in the race for September.
It was a tight contest all day with three final quarter goals to East Keilor sealing the victory.
Frank Campisi booted four goals for the Cougars while Damien Petrone, Ben Caluzzi, and Chris Stewart each kicked two.
Judd Brewster, Kurtis Sanajko, and Benjamin Bath were the best for the Jets who will be looking to get back on the winner’s list against Avondale Heights
The race for the top five in Rookie Me Division One continues to be an incredibly interesting race despite there being seven games still left to play out.
Hillside’s big loss to West Coburg pushes them to fifth spot, tied on points with Roxburgh Park who hosted St Albans in a narrow defeat.
The Saints are now on equal points with Rupertswood who took care of business against Westmeadows and sit third on percentage (0.42%).
Next week, Rupo will host Roxy in a contest that will again be vital for the finals landscape.
While they didn’t get the win, Tullamarine have pushed themselves out of the relegation zone on percentage with a valiant performance against Craigieburn.
They are 0.2 per cent ahead of Westmeadows following their 23-point loss and will have a chance to get one win ahead next week when they play Glenroy, while Westy will have stiff opposition in St Albans.
There were a number of important clashes scheduled for this weekend, but the Northern Saints and Hadfield one wasn’t on the radar.
In a stirring upset, the Hawks defeated Northern Saints by 12 points after making a raft of changes.
It was a similarly low-scoring affair to their last meeting, with Hadfield keeping Tamer Abdallah’s men goalless in the second half to power to a monumental win.
Jack Wallace (five goals) and Josh Trembearth (three goals) were pivotal in front of goal, while Andrew Trende played an important part.
While the three wins separating them from the finals seems like a tough chase, they’re just one win behind Burnside Heights and Sunbury Kangaroos, so a chance to climb the ladder awaits them.
Speaking of the Division Two finals race, Coburg Districts were able to attain a two game separation on Burnside Heights and Sunbury Kangaroos with an eight-point victory over the Bears.
They started and ended the game well, kicking six of their seven goals in the first and last quarters, keeping the Bears to just two goals in the same periods.
Playing coach Tom Gleeson was on fire early and ended up with three goals, while Ricky McGill was staunch in the defensive half, setting up a lot of their forward movement.
Districts will face Oak Park next week who are coming off a huge win against Sunbury Kangaroos, another opportunity to best their prelim final performance from 2022.
Moonee Valley kickstarted a four-game losing streak for the reigning premiers in Keilor back in Round 4 and have beaten them again by five points.
The game ebbed and flowed and Keilor came hard in the final quarter, but the Fog were able to hold on and give themselves a two game separation on Keilor with three games remaining.
The win makes it difficult for Maribyrnong Park (tied on five wins with Keilor) to oust them from finals action, while the loss means Keilor could be in danger of missing finals.
Keilor and Marby face each other next week, and with the Blues facing ladder leaders Aberfeldie and Oak Park in the two games after, this will be vital for their premiership defence hopes.
A hotly contested battle was always going to hit Willowbrook Reserve when Westmeadows hosted Oak Park, irrespective of ladder positions with Westy second last and Oak Park second.
It was Westy who almost provided an upset in their five-point loss to the Kangaroos after leading at half time.
They couldn’t quite get over the line but it was a valiant performance.
Airport Toyota Women’s Division One has so far this season seemed to be Greenvale’s to lose with Douttas coming within 13 points, and the Bears 36. That’s now been turned on its head following Burnside Heights’ seven-point win over the Jets.
Kayla Ravanello kicked three goals for the Bears with Holly McGregor also an important contributor.
With three games left to play, the Bears are just four points behind the Jets and will have their eye on top spot.
The two sides will play in the final game of the home and away season.
Following Sunbury Kangaroos’ four-point loss to Aberfeldie 2, the top four is all but finalised in Division Two.
They were peering into the finals but the Sunbury Kangaroos will need to win all games by a healthy percentage and bank on Coburg Districts stumbling to displace them.
The Lions need just one win to knock the Kangaroos out of contention, while they play in the final round, if the Kangaroos can make up the percentage differential, they may have a chance to sneak in should the Lions not get another win.
Coburg Districts have Marby 2 next week who sit second last, although it was just a 15-point game last time out.
In other games, Coburg Districts lost to Airport West by 83 points, Moonee Valley 2 beat Maribyrnong Park 2 by 78 points, and Pascoe Vale beat Westmeadows 2 by 27 points.
